forever yellow skies
by Kiyoshi Kitana
Summary: "I need to practice being a knight! You be the princess, and I'll rescue you!" [Armin and Eren spend a rainy day reading and playing indoors.]


"The red dragon's roar was fierce and frightening, but the silver knight stood firm," Armin reads aloud, smiling as his best friend huddles closer to him to see the pictures of his book. He briefly glances at Eren who, with a wide, excited smile, urges him to keep going.

Eren is practically bouncing beside Armin as he turns the page. Armin's mother had returned this morning and brought _The Dragon'sRevenge_ with her from her trip to Dacai as an apology for the last trip being on such short notice. Armin doesn't mind it too much, though; he spends the empty hours with his grandfather and Eren.

"'_Unhand our princess, you beast!'_ The knight yelled, raising his sword high above his head. The knight swung his sword, slicing through the huge claw holding the princess," Armin continues, his voice drowning out the pitter-patter of rain outside.

"Yeah, get him!" Eren cheers. Armin giggles as the boy pumps a fist in the air before settling back down. He turns back to the book, dragging his finger along the text until he finds where he was before.

"The dragon swiped at the knight but was too slow. With a deep bellow, the knight launched himself at the dragon, cutting through the dragon's neck in one fell swoop! Princess Elena rushed into his arms with a delighted cry.

'_Oh, thank you, brave knight!_ The princess exclaimed. _I was sure I was doomed to be the dragon's bride!_

_It was my pleasure_, the silver knight responded. He then scooped the princess up into his arms and together they rode off into the sunset. The end."

Armin closes the book and looks over at Eren, grinning. "What did you think?"

"It was awesome! I'm gonna be a knight someday!" Eren says. Then, a pensive look flickers across his face and he tilts his head to the side. His shaggy brown hair falls into his eyes, partially obscuring them. "Do all knights get a princess, Armin?"

Armin makes a thoughtful noise, leaning back on his hands. After a moment he nods affirmatively. "Yeah, I think so."

"Okay!" Eren jumps up then and rushes across Armin's bedroom to pluck a miniature foam sword from his pile of toys. It is nearly the length of his arm, the blade made of grey foam and the hilt golden. He slashes with the sword a few times, as if hacking away at an invisible foe, then points the sword at Armin. "I need to practice being a knight! You be the princess, and I'll rescue you!"

"Mm!" Armin nods. Standing, he looks about his room until he spies what he wants — a large, stuffed panda bear. It's nearly as tall as he is. He sits it in the middle of the floor between himself and Eren. "This can be the dragon!"

"And the bed can be the tower," Eren adds. He drops his sword, trotting over Armin's bed and climbing on it. He gathers together all of the pillows on the bed into a round pile, then slides back off with a look of pride. "Okay, now it's a tower."

Armin laughs and jumps onto his bed, bouncing slightly. He crawls atop the mass of pillows and says, "Help, help!"

Dashing back to his sword, Eren grabs it and aims the tip of the sword at the giant panda bear. "Give my princess back, foul creature!"

Armin mimics a dragon's roar from across the room, then flails across his pillows as if he's in distress. "It's coming closer! Save me!"

Eren lunges at the panda bear and whacks it with his foam sword. "Take that! And that!"

The panda doesn't stand a chance; it topples over after a few of Eren's swings. The brunette puffs his chest out proudly, pretending to sheath his sword. Armin clambers off of his bed and throws himself at Eren, wrapping his arms around the other boy's neck in a hug. "Oh, thank you! Thank you for saving me!"

The force of Armin's hug knocks Eren off-balance, sending them sprawling across the floor with a loud thud. Armin lands on top of Eren and both boys dissolve into laughter; the blonde rolls off to the side of Eren and says, through a hiccuping giggle, "Sorry."

"It's okay," Eren says with a smile, turning his head so that he can catch Armin's gaze. "You make a good princess."

A pink flush creeps up Armin's cheeks and he rubs his reddening nose with the tip of a finger. "You think so?"

Eren nods. "Yeah."

"You make a good knight, too, Eren," Armin replies, earning a bigger smile from his friend. He always wants to see Eren smile.

For a moment, the only sound in the room is the rat-a-tat of the drizzling rain hitting the bedroom window. Eren's stomach then rumbles, joining the sound of the rain. He sits up and rubs it with a sheepish grin. "Being a knight really makes you hungry."

"Yeah, I'm hungry too! Come on," Armin says, getting up. He offers his hand to Eren and twines their fingers together when he accepts it. "Let's go ask mom to make us something, okay?"

"Sounds good," Eren agrees and lets Armin drag him out of the bedroom.


End file.
